When an air conditioner (an indoor device) is operated in a cooling mode, moisture in the air is condensed to produce drain water in a heat exchanger provided therein. Generally, the drain water is received by a drain pan provided in a body cabinet, and discharged outdoors via a drain hose connected to a part of the drain pan.
A large amount of drain water is produced particularly in hot and humid areas such as coastal areas or Southeast Asia. Thus, some air conditioners are suggested such that a pump for discharging drain water is provided in a body cabinet to force the drain water out.
Japanese Patent Application publication No. 2002-130722 (related example 1) is an example. The example 1 describes that an air conditioner has a drain pump placed in a space formed between a fan body of a cross flow fan and a motor, provided in a body cabinet. Thereby, the need for a dedicated space for the drain pump is eliminated to save space, as one advantage.
On the other hand, when a drain pump is used, vibration of a pump motor therein may produce resonance together with a body cabinet to cause abnormal sounds. Japanese Patent Application publication No. 8-285305 (related example 2) is an example to solve the above problem. The example 2 describes that a drain pump is mounted to a body cabinet via a rubber isolator. Thereby, vibration of the drain pump is absorbed by the rubber isolator to effectively minimize abnormal sounds.
However, the method of the example 1 has the following problems. Specifically, the drain pump is placed near the motor of the cross flow fan or an electric part such as an electrical equipment box, and there is a risk of electrical leakage caused by drain water.
Further, the drain pump is placed on the back of an output shaft of the motor, and in order to remove the drain pump, the cross flow fan and a heat exchanger unit covering the fan must be removed, thus offering poor maintenance properties.
The method of the example 2 includes a cap-like rubber isolator covering a movable portion such as a pump motor, and is thus suitable for minimizing local vibration, but less effective against vibration caused by three-dimensional rotational motion.